"Dramatic paintings add depth and foreboding to a lesson about excessive materialism."--Kirkus "The fable offers a finely drawn, restrained 'less is more' lesson about attachment to things."--Publishers Weekly "This is a timely, clearly needed fable for contemporary society as it tries to unravel itself from excessive materialism. Ideal for discussions about reducing consumption."--School Library Journal, starred review "This minimally told story delivers a strong antimaterialism message, and kids with a habit of amassing stuff may, like Magpie, recognize their own reflections."--Booklist "The lesson about living simply carries here, gracefully communicated both in the illustrations and the spare text."--Bulletin "The message here is overt, but the treatment is clever, effective, and commendably understated."--Horn Book --